Monday, July 02, 2007

happy Independence Day

Washington - President Bush commuted the sentence of former aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Monday, sparing him from a 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case.

Bush left intact a $250,000 fine and two years probation for Libby, according to a senior White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.

Bush's move came hours after a federal appeals panel ruled Libby could not delay his prison term in the CIA leak case. That decision put the pressure on the president, who had been sidestepping calls by Libby's allies to pardon the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Libby was convicted in March of lying to authorities and obstructing the investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative's identity. He was the highest-ranking White House official ordered to prison since the Iran-Contra affair.

So this adminstration, with its unyielding concern for democracy, hunting down "evildoers," promoting historically American ideals, prosecuting those deemed threats to freedom and the American way of life (when they're not secreting them abroad for torture outside the realm of our own and international laws) has made it clear: treason, when committed by a political ally...no, let me rephrase that - committed by commission of the president's office...is officially a pardonable offense.